Book Review - DIMENSIONS OF JUSTICE by Sujata V Manohar

There is something touching about a daughter putting together a volume of essays in memory of her father, even if (some would say, particularly when) the offering is made posthumously. This collection of speeches, delivered by an eclectic range of personalities – including practising and academic lawyers, serving and retired judges and a political scientist – between 2004 and 2017, stands testimony to the affection and regard in which Sujata Manohar, a member of the Bombay Bar (who went on to become a judge of the Supreme Court of India), held her late father, Kantilal Thakordas Desai. Popularly known as 'K.T.' in legal circles, Desai was himself a prominent lawyer and judge of the Bombay High Court in the last century. The twelve substantive essays in the book span a wide range of subjects from human rights, human duties, judiciary and the media, the rule of law, national unity, judicial overreach, criminal law, judicial dissents, to the state of democracy in contemporary India. As can be expected, they represent a mixed bag, with the contributions varying in length, style, coherence and quality. An introductory chapter, in which Sujata Manohar reminisces affectionately about her father, lends a personal touch to the collection (she graciously acknowledges in a preface the contribution that her sister, Sadhana, a gynaecologist, has made to the founding of the lecture series on which the book is based). The volume starts with a collation of speeches made by seven legal luminaries at a symposium organised in 2004 by the two sisters in the historic central hall of the Bombay High Court to inaugurate the lecture series. These speeches, more demotic in tone than the essays which follow, offer personal reflections on Justice Desai and of the judiciary in his time. To many, they will evoke memories of an era which seems generations away and whose ethos has long gone out of fashion. As for the essays themselves, it is difficult to discern an overarching theme or a common thread to them (except possibly that all the topics addressed fall predominantly within the ambit of 'public law' and present a worldview that can broadly be called 'liberal' in the sense in which that term is now commonly understood – brave would be the organiser of a lecture series today who invites speakers of a conservative disposition!). Some of the contributions may be criticised for traversing well-trodden ground with nary a new idea or novel insight (an example of this is the essay on 'Actualising Human Rights' by the former Chief Justice of India, J.S. Verma, who does little more than regurgitate platitudes and recite facts which have been the subject of numerous articles and speeches over the years). A different type of criticism may be levelled against one or two other contributions: the essay on 'Judiciary and the Media' by the former Supreme Court judge Ruma Pal, for example, focuses on a subject which is both highly topical and rich with potential for meaningful comment (and, one might add, for development of the law). Unfortunately, the author's treatment of it leaves much to be desired: there is very little internal coherence, and the essay lacks a proper structure, with the result that the reader is left with a feeling of the discussion being all over the place and highly disjointed. A real opportunity lost, especially given that the author is generally recognised as one of India's more erudite legal personalities. By contrast, the essay on 'Judicial Overreach' by Ashok Desai, a leading member of the Bar, is a model of meticulous organisation and perceptive analysis. It is particularly commendable for what discerning readers (even those who may not agree with the author's views on the subject) will recognise as lightly-worn scholarship. Not for him the flashy displays of knowledge or the self-promotional grandstanding which has, sadly, become commonplace among some Indian lawyers and judges in recent times. Another essay which deserves praise, albeit for different reasons, is the one on 'Fundamental Duties – A Forgotten Chapter of the Constitution' by R.C. Lahoti, a former Chief Justice of India, in which the author draws attention to a much-neglected aspect of the Indian constitution which, he argues, should have been given greater prominence in constitutional discourse than has been the case. Some readers may take the view that this essay could be improved in presentational terms, but that would be a minor quibble. Questions will always be raised, in the context of collections such as these, about the choice of contributors, and there are no easy answers. Must those invited to deliver memorial lectures necessarily have to have some prior connection or familiarity with the person being memorialised? Although some would argue that they should, practical considerations often trump such decisions. In the case of the present volume, many of the contributors – English judges Lord Woolf of Barnes and...

Book Review - DIMENSIONS OF JUSTICE by Sujata V Manohar

Dr. Venkat Iyer

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